Apparatus for conditioning and supplying clay to pottery forming machinery



W. J. MILLER APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING AND SUPPLYING CLAY T0 POTTERY F'ORMING MACHINERY Jan. 1, 1950 Original Filed June 8, 19.44

LY 2M3 1 2%.). m A m A." in. I Z-|v 1 3 c e. 0 O o i SQ M y i i NNN INV EN TOR J. MILLERv then subdivided and thereafter intermingled and deposited in the pug. At the cutting off position, preferably relatively thin slices or wafers of clay are segregated from the procession by passing a cutting implement through a plurality of overlapping cakes, the cut preferably starting at the perimeter of the procession, said slice preferably folding or curling as it is detached, to further intermingle the hard brim portion with the softer portions of the slice. By slicing the material thin, large lumps in the pug supply are eliminated and the slice can be more completely and efficiently further subdivided and plasticized.

by the pug mill knives into the minute fine aggregates necessary for optimum fine texture jiggering clay and lump-free ware. The slices are cut on periodically and deposited directly or indirectly in the pug mill. The volume delivery of clay into the pug is coordinated with the jiggering machines requirements through automatic or manual control over the rate of feed of the procession of filter cakes to the cutting off point, and the thickness of the slice is controlled by varying the periodicity of the stroke of the cutting implement and the shape of the curl by the rapidity of the stroke while cutting.

I thus substantially reduce pottery ware production cost by eliminating the pug feeding individual, reducing ware rejects chargeable to lumpy and off-consistency clay and insuring continuous production.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation illustrating an apparatus for segregating and transporting clay from a parent column of clay to a pug mill.

Figure 2 is a detail in perspective of one of the clay carriers forming a part of the conveyor of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation illustrating a modified arrangement of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail illustrating how. the invention may be practiced with a manually operated cutter.

Figure 5 is a detail of a filter cake.

Where, due to space limitations or other factors, it is more desirable to move the procession D in a horizontal plane to a cutting off position, I provide a single chain conveyor IIB, see Figure 1, with spaced, forwardly tiltable pawls III located in a pit H2 with the upper run projecting above the floor level between the rails of a track II in position for the pawls to engage the axles H5 or other abutments of Wheeled trucks H6 having detachable handles I99.

Loaded trucks H6 are backed onto the rails into abutting relation in order to make a continuous procession D of filter cakes stacked on their brirns and tilted forwardly, and the trucks are intermittently advanced toward a cutting off position by a ratchet II'l mounted on sprocket shaft MB of conveyor H0, and is intermittently advanced by a pawl rack H8 connected to an eccentric H5 rotated in unison with the auger shaft of the elevated pug mill I26 which rests on a platform E21 thereabove.

To elevate the clay above the level of the pug mill hopper I22 and discharge the material thereinto, I have provided aconveyor I23 composed of laterally spaced strands supported on a frame I35. Between the strands are supported scoop buckets I25 fastened to the chain at two points on each side so that they will not swing but will be caused to be tilted on their sides as they move across the upper level of the conveyor path between sprockets I24 and I26 to discharge their contents into the hopper. Said buckets are inverted as they move downwardly between sprockets I26 and I2! to a lower level where they travel tilted on their sides between sprockets I21 and I28 to scoop up clay from the platform of the trucks which may remain from previous cuttings, and as the buckets travel around sprockets I28 they are caused to engage and scoop clay from the lead end of procession D. If desired a cutting wire I29, Figure 2, may be suspended between arms IBd secured to opposite sides of each bucket to slice oif clay ahead of each bucket from the procession D] The movement of conveyor I23 is coordinated with the operation of the pug mill I20 and truck conveyor II ii by a pawl rack I3I connected to the eccentric IId which intermittently rotates the ratchet I 32 mounted on sprocket shaft I33. The effective stroke of racks ISI and H8 may be varied manually by adjustable members I36 operable to cause the racks to be lifted from engagement with the ratchets after a predetermined amount of rotation has been imparted thereto. It will be understood that the conveyors H6 and I23 may be continuously driven in coordinated fashion if desired by the substitution of a continuous drive.

If desired, vertical stacks of filter cakes [40, Figure 3, on trucks IdI may be pushed by hand or propelled by means of a chain I43 such as that shown at IIG in Figure 1, into the cutting plane defined by the scoops I42. These scoops are the same as those disclosed in Figure 1, and, the conveying structure is identical except for the. omission of sprocket I28, which means the conveyor extends from sprocket I21 upwardly in an inclined plane to sprocket I2 i. The cutting surface of the scoops will cut across one or more stacks of cakes at an angle to thereby shave clay from a plurality of cakes disposed in such relation to the cutting plane that hard I31 and soft 138 and intermediate I39 portions of the cakes E, Figure 5, overlap relative to said cutting zone.

The operationof cutting slices I46 from vertical stacks of cakes on truck It! by hand or with a power driven wire is illustrated in Figure 4, wherein Hi4 illustrates a holder for the wire I45, and X'X' the cutting plane.

I claim: 1

1. In combination with a pug mill, movable carrying means formed to support a procession of filter cakes laid one against the other, a movable container for receiving material from the leading end of said procession, cutting means arranged to move with and ahead of said container to out material from said procession, and means for elevating said container and tilting the same to discharge the contents thereof into the pug mill.

2. Apparatus for feeding clay to a pug mill comprising, a support for carrying a column of filter cakes to a cutting oif'position, a series of cutters mounted in spaced relation and suspended above said support, an endless conveyor for carrying said cutters upwardly and across the axis of the column to segregate bodies of clay from several of the filter cakes, and a receptacle positioned and arranged withrespect to each cutter so as to receive cuttings from the filter cakes and to carry the cuttings to the pug mill.

3. Apparatus for feeding clay to a pug mill comprising, a mobile truck for carrying a column of filter cakes to a cutting off position, means for guiding the truck into position and means for moving it relative, to the position, a series of cutters mounted in spaced relation and suspended above said support, means for moving the cutters along a cutting line upwardly and across the axis of the column to segregate bodies of clay from several of the filter cakes each cutting operation, and a receptacle positioned and arranged with respect to each cutter for receiving cuttings and carrying them to the pug mill.

4. Apparatus for feeding clay to a pug mill comprising, a support for carrying a horizontal column of filter cakes to a cutting oir position, a series of cutters supported by an endless chain arranged in a loop traveling through a cutting position and over the pug mill, said cutter being suspended above said support at the cutting off position and being movable along a cutting line upwardly and across the axis of the column to segregate bodies of clay from several of the filter cakes each cutting operation, and a receptacle associated with each cutter for receiving cuttings and carrying them to the pug mill.

5. Apparatus for feeding clay to a pug mill comprising, a support for carrying a column of filter cakes to a cutting 01f position, a series of cutters mounted in spaced relation and suspended above said support, means for moving said cutters in a straight line upwardly and across the axis of the column to segregate bodies of clay from several of the filter cakes each cutting operation, and a, receptacle associated with each cutter for receiving the cuttings and carrying them to the pug mill.

6. Apparatus for feeding clay to a pug mill comprising, a support for carrying a column of filter cakes to a cutting ofi position, a series of cutters mounted in spaced relation and suspended above said support, means for moving said cutters upwardly and across the axis of the column to segregate bodies of clay from several of the filter cakes each cutting operation, and a receptacle formed integral with each cutter, for receiving the cuttings and carrying them to the pug mill.

WILLIAM J. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 233,764 Innis Oct. 26, 1880 268,976 Anderson Dec. 12, 1882 283,366 Anderson Aug. 21, 1883 320,865 Frey June 23, 1885 399,025 Evans Mar. 5, 1889 1,546,152 Trynaski July 14:, 1925 2,185,459 Hardgrove Jan. 2, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 498,570 France Jan. 15, 1920 

